Jurassic Park: A Dim Day
by Eye Of Ender
Summary: A group of survivors find themselves trapped on an island of man-eating reptilians.
1. INTRUDERS

Mina Hendricks was in the dark. Above her head, she could hear voices: the crew's voices, harking at each other like crewmen stereotypically did. Mina couldn't make out the words but that was fine with her. Just hearing the voices, somewhat muffled, was frightening.

"We're crammed in here like sardines in a can," Rick Wallace said, his voice resonating in the dark from somewhere. "How much longer do we gotta be in here?"

"Shut up, you pointy-earned nincompoop." That was Grayson, their esteemed leader. "We just have to wait a few more minutes."

"I'm getting angsty up in here," said a new voice. That was Dillan Munroe, who was standing next to Mina. He accidently - or perhaps intentionally - prodded Mina in the side with his elbow.

"Watch it," she warned.

"Sorry," he replied.

The seconds ticked by painfully slow. Then Grayson gave the order: "Charge! Follow me, everyone!" He sprinted out of his hiding spot among the crates, followed by Max Neaten and eventually Rick. Mina ran after them, distinctly aware of Dillan Munroe behind her.

They ran up into open air. The light was so painfully bright that Mina was disoriented by it and almost fell. Luckily she steadied herself at the last minute.

"Hey!" a furious voice shouted. Mina's heart jumped into her throat. "Stowaways!"

A man stepped in front of them. "Hold it right there!"

Grayson pointed his AK at the man. "Move it or die!"

The man's eyes widened and he quickly got out of the way. But as Grayson was turning, Mina saw the man reach into his belt. The next second there was a blast and he spun and fell to the deck. Mina didn't know who shot him.

Now angry voices were yelling from all around. They were on the dock now, and running full-sprint for the treeline. Suddenly, bullets whistled through the air around them. Mina jumped to the ground, froze for a moment before realizing that she was still alive. She got her legs under her and dove for cover behind a large crate. Bullets riddled the ground behind her.

"Kill them!" Grayson shouted from somewhere. Screams and gunshots echoed in the early morning air. Mina unstrapped her AK and cocked it, like Grayson showed her. She clutched the gun to her chest and tried to work up the courage to take a shot. She peeked around the side. Grayson was in front of her, ducking behind a crate himself. Occasionally he would stand up and fire before ducking down again. Beyond him, Mina saw the crewmen returning fire. Occasionally she saw one of their heads poke out so he could take a shot.

"Retreat!" Grayson shouted. "Max, help me cover them!"

"Go, everyone!" Max said.

Mina did as she was told and ran with Rick and Dillan towards the treeline. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Grayson and Max let loose one last barrage of bullets before sprinting after them. Mina ran harder and faster than she ever had before, pure terror adrenalizing her body.

Suddenly, she heard a scream. She cast a glance over her shoulder and saw Dillan on the ground. He didn't move. Terrified, Mina ran faster, forcing her limbs to obey her demands. The treeline neared - ten yards, five, three. Then she was there, diving into the vegetation, losing her footing and collapsing onto a bed of sharp sticks. The sticks jabbed her arms and hands, and she swore in pain. Frantically, she pushed herself up and ran on.

"Mina!" a voice said from somewhere. Mina stopped, looked around. She saw Hansen crouched a few yards away, waving to her. She went over to him and crouched down beside him. "Where's the others?" she asked.

"Rick's in here somewhere, and Grayson and Max are probably on their way," Hansen replied. "Did you see Dillan?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

"You saw him go down?"

She nodded.

Soon the others met up with them. Rick, who gave Mina a quick nod. Then Grayson and Max, who both appeared exhausted, but despite this Grayson quickly insisted that they get moving. "Quick! They're gonne be after us. We have to make some distance between us and them!"

So they ran further into the jungle.

***GCG***

Mina collapsed, unable to stand any more. There was an insatiable burning in her lower half, particularly her thighs. No wonder; they'd just sprinted about fifty yards through rugged jungle terrain. Right now, she wasn't worried about how this looked in front of the men.

"Five - no, eight - uh, we'll sayyyy... seven minute break!" Grayson concluded. He was panting, leaning on his knees.

Mina zoned out and just concentrated on getting her breath back. Her eyes sprang open automatically at the sound of approaching footsteps. She looked up, and saw Grayson pass over her. She twisted and saw a man lying in the mud. She was pretty certain it was Rick. Grayson bent over and rolled Rick onto his back. "You're lying in the mud, Wallace," Grayson announced. Rick made no response. "You would have drowned!" Still nothing. Grayson chuckled and walked away.

Once again Mina almost fell asleep. Then a boot prodded her in the side. She opened her eyes and looked up to see Grayson looking down at her. "Hey, kid, better get some water in ya," he said.

Mina rolled herself onto her back and sat up. Her muscles groaned with protest, but she didn't shriek. She calmed herself with a few steadying breaths. Then she unshouldered her back pack and put it down on the ground in front of her; she zipped it open, and reached inside pulling out a water bottle. She uncapped it and took several big, delicious gulps. When she was done, she put it back in the pack and stood up, shouldering the pack again. She looked around, surprised to see that Rick and Hansen were still lying on the ground, still sucking in large breaths. Max and Grayson were both sitting down, Max on a big flat stone and Rick on a fallen log. They were tired. Max looked up and gave Mina a nod. Nima thought it would be fine if she sat down for a few more moments.

"Okay," Grayson said after a few minutes had passed. "It's time to get moving. Max, you wanna get Rick?"

The heavyset man grovelled and stood up and stamped toward Rick's motionless body.

After he'd slapped Rick awake, the group checked their weapons to make sure they were all still functioning. Then they set off into the jungle. Grayson had them walk side-by-side in a tight cluster. He insisted that this was a proven effective method for traversing dangerous grounds. Mina took his word for it.

They walked for about a half hour with no incidents. Then, at around the forty minute mark, the trees ahead began to shake. Mina heard Hansen gasp. They all raised their weapons, ready to open fire. The bushes shook some more, then a slender reptilian head poked out of the trees and looked at them. The eyes were bright yellow, and didn't seem to blink. Its skin was a dullish brown colour. Its jaws were slender and curved downward at the end, filled with dozens of razor sharp teeth. They looked at each other, the humans and the dinosaur. Nothing happened. Then the head slowly disappeared back into the jungle and a silence descended.

Everyone let out a breath.

"That was cool," Max said.

"Yeah, cool," Hansen grunted.

"I wonder if it's still there?"

"Could be. Could be waiting for us to walk by so it can ambush us."

Grayson slapped Hansen for that comment. Hansen attempted to fight back but Grayson put a finger to his lips and widened his eyes, pretending like he'd heard something. Hansen stopped fighting immediately and looked around with scared eyes.

"No time for this infighting," their leader said.

"You hit me," Hansen pointed out.

"I am your commander. I will relegate punishment as I see fit."

"You're no army general. You're just a-"

"Shhh!" Grayson ordered. "Come on, we have a long way to go!"

They continued their trek through the jungle.

Night was come before they knew it. They were all exhausted from the day's events, and Grayson was considering where would be a good place to spend the night. Around that time they happened upon a road and decided to follow it, to see where it lead. Possibly a nice hotel. You never knew.

It was nearly pitch black. Grayson reached into his coat and pulled out a flashlight. He flicked it on and they were guided by the light from the flashlight. A hill came into view on the right side of the path. Mina looked up it and saw a red Jeep on it. It appeared to be stuck on a twisted branch. Its back tires were slightly suspended.

"Check that out," Rick said.

"Finally, a bit of luck," Grayson said.

"It's only lucky if we can get it down."

"Well, let's try."

When they reached the hill they began to climb it. It was slippery and muddy, proving difficult to traverse; but they managed. Grayson reached the top first, Mina right behind. She saw him looking through the window. Then he opened the door. He jumped back, as if shocked. "Ugh!" he said.

"What is it?" Max called up.

Grayson didn't answer or look at them.

"Grayson?"

Finally Grayson turned around. "A dead guy," he said.

Mina reached the level ground and walked over to Grayson and the Jeep. The smell hit her almost at once, so overpowering that she gagged. Though she didn't want to, she looked into the Jeep.

A dead and rather portly man was lodged behind the steering wheel. The sight was horrendous, and Mina turned away. By now, the others had reached them. Max grimaced. Rick put a hand on his chest and stumbled back. Hansen threw up on his shoes.

"Knock it off!" Grayson demanded, kicking the younger man in the side. "You're a man, aren't you?" He pointed at Mina. "This woman's tougher than you are!"

"Maybe we should get out of here," Rick suggested warily.

Grayson looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, I agree. Back to the road. Watch your steps."

They began to slip-slide down the slope. At one point Hansen lost his balance and belly-flopped into the mud. Grayson laughed, half expecting the others to laugh too - but they didn't. Apparently no one was in a very jovial mood after what they'd just seen.

They began to walk along the road again. Ahead there was a tunnel. Like the mouth of a humongous beast, it was pitch dark inside. Grayson grabbed his flashlight and flicked it on.

Like a baseball stadium in the middle of the night and someone turned the lights on, or maybe a movie set with those big overhead lamps - that was the effect. Suddenly they could see the entire interior of the tunnel. That included the six or seven greenish dinosaurs crouched in front of them, rigid jaws bared in a menacing grin, filled with cutting-edge teeth.

Then darkness.

Grayson had dropped the flashlight.

***GCG***

Mina fired. Her gun throttled in her hands, bucking like a living thing: the sheer force of its movements took her by surprise. The others were shooting too. The bursts from their guns illuminated the dark tunnel for brief moments at a time, allowing her to catch glimpses of the creatures within. An inhuman shriek resonated from within the darkness, giving Mina a flush of satisfaction.

"Cease fire!" Grayson commanded.

Mina did not do as he said; she emptied her clip, then turned and looked at Grayson.

Grayson stooped and picked up his flashlight and turned it on.

Two of those creatures lay dead on the road, blood spilling from the many coin-sized holes in their scaly green flesh.

"The others are gone," Rick pointed out.

"Yep," Grayson said. "Must have ran off."

Suddenly Max let out a scream and Mina turned her head just in time to see Max get pushed to the ground by one of those green things. Grayson, who was closest, seemingly acting on impulse, kicked the thing in the side. It had no effect. Coming to his sense, the man then aimed his gun and shot the thing to death. Then he knelt and checked on Max.

"Look out!" Rick screamed.

Mina whirled around and saw one of those things coming right for her. Instinct kicked in and she threw herself to the ground. The creature sailed over her head, but found a new victim: Hansen. It landed squarely on the man's chest and pushed him to the ground whilst biting his neck. Hansen didn't even scream. Mina crawled away, terrified. Rick shot the creature attacking Hansen; both it and the man fell to the ground. Rick knelt and put his hands on either side of Hansen's face. Hansen blinked wearily. "Please... shoot me..." he gasped. Rick nodded conceit and picked up his gun and shot the man.

"There's more!" Grayson screamed.

Mina looked up to see two more of those things charging Grayson. Grayson leveled his AK and fired at them, but it was short-lived. He swore. "I'm out! Rick-"

The first dinosaur leapt on Grayson and dugs its claws into his chest, attempting to force him down. But Grayson would have none of it. He grabbed the creature's arms and pushed it off. Rick gunned it down. Then he gunned the other one down.

Panting, Grayson yelled "Run!"

"What about Max?" Rick said.

Grayson looked at his fallen friend with a sad expression. "It's too late," he choked out.

Rick closed his eyes for a moment before striding over to where Max lay. "I won't make you do it, Grayson," he murmured. He raised his AK and shot Max in the head. "Sorry, Max," he murmured.

"Come on!" Grayson grabbed Mina and pulled her to her feet. "You still got a lot to show for yourself, kid!"

Mina looked around and saw more of those things coming.

"Come on!" Grayson said again. He grabbed Mina's hand and began to leading her back to the hill. "The car! If we can get to the car..." he shouted.

They climbed the hill hastily, slipping on the mud as they went. Rick provided cover fire so Grayson and Mina could get to the Jeep undaunted.

Grayson grabbed the door handle. A dinosaur leapt onto the Jeep's roof. It drew its roundish head back, like a spring toy, before snapping it forward with a wet _splat_ noise. There was a wet _squelch_ and Grayson shrieked and fell over backward, involuntarily dragging Mina down with him, whose hand he still clutched.

Mina glanced at Grayson and saw a sticky black substance stuck to his face. She looked up as the dinosaur leapt onto Grayson, pinning him down. This time Grayson could do nothing. Grayson's hand opened and Mina tumbled back down the muddy hill, landing heavily on her back on the road. The wind was knocked out of her; she felt paralyzed. Dimly, through the corner of her eye, she saw a dinosaur approaching her. Then there was an explosion and the dinosaur shrieked as it was pelted with bullets. Rick slid down the hill. He grabbed Mina's arm and pulled her to her feet. "Run!" he screamed, his voice hoarse.

Mina listened. She ran for her life.


	2. REST

They crouched in the bushes and watched the little ten-foot-long dinosaur gobble up a nest of mice. The creature was distracted, inattentive. The humans had successfully snuck up on it.

The man leaned in and whispered, "The clip's half empty. That should be fine," he said.

The woman nodded. They were like Tarzan and Jane, the pair of them: bedraggled, scared, dirty and bloody. Desperate, yet cautious. They had survived this long on nothing but wits and firepower - one of those was almost depleted.

"Do it," the woman whispered.

The man rose up, raising his gun simultaneously; perfect combativeness form. He squeezed the trigger and a harsh, ear-grating burst of gunfire rang through the foggy morning.

Then it was over.

The woman stood up beside him and together they ran, passing the body of the little ten-foot-long dinosaur.

The silhouette of the maintenance shed appeared in the fog. The pair ran faster, their hearts beating wildly and their muscles burning. The woman reached the shed first; she drove her heels into the mud, stopping herself right before she ran into the side. With a trembling hand she grabbed the door handle and threw it wide. The pair ran inside, the man turning back to slam the door shut.

There was a long moment during which they could do nothing but pant.

Everything blurred for the woman. A powerful wave of dizziness hit her, and she lost her footing and collapsed. The man also fell. They lay there for a long time on the cold hard cement; to them it felt like a comfortable soft bed. The woman blinked in and out of consciousness. The heaviness dragged at her but never consumed her fully, as if part of her was fighting the urge.

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Try though she did the woman could not resist the temptation any longer, and she drifted off into what might have been the best sleep of her life.

***GCG***

"Hey," a voice said. A hand shook Mina's shoulder, jolting her from sleep. She opened her eyes and looked up. Rick was kneeling over her. His brown eyes had a haunted look in them that wasn't there at the front of their adventures. A real tragedy, Mina thought with a twinge of her old humour.

"What time is it?" She asked aloud as she unfurled into a sitting position.

Rick glanced at his watch. Somehow it still functioning after everything they'd been through. "About ten o clock," he said.

"We slept for two hours," Mina said.

"About that."

Mina looked around her. The shed contained exactly what you'd expect: tools and crates and whatnot.

"Should we look and see what we can find?" She suggested.

Rick nodded. "I was kind of waiting for you to wake up before I looked to see what loot awaits us," he said.

He offered her his hand, and she took it. "By the way," he said. He smiled. "Good job surviving."

Despite herself, she smiled back. "You too," she said.

They looked through every crate and box in the shed but there was nothing of use to them. Well, there was a medical kit- which was handy. Mina had several cuts on her body that were driving her crazy. They applied the medicine, cleaned themselves up with some rags that they found.

"I gotta pee," Rick said. Mina realized that she had the urge to do the same. "No bathroom though," Rick continued. "Guess I'll do it through the window." When he saw her face he added, "I'm just kidding."

"What should we do then?" She asked.

"I guess we'll just go outside. One of us will keep watch while the other pees."

Mina grimaced at the idea but acknowledged the faculty of it.

When they had both gone, they went back in and settled down. "I'm starved," Rick said. "To bad there wasn't any food in any of those boxes."

"Just dinosaur food," Mina said. She took off her pack, and reached inside, finding a couple of sandwiches that she'd wrapped before the trip.

As they ate a heavy silence settled between them. Rick's face became hard, troubled.

"You thinking about them?" She asked.

He started, as if he'd forgotten she was there. "Yeah," he said.

"Me too," Nima said.

Another brief silence passed. "All in all, they weren't awful people," Rick said after a while. He took a bite out of his sandwich. "They did some pretty awful stuff. _I've_ done some pretty awful stuff." He looked on the ground. "You know, forget it. We're awful, every last one of us. Except you. And maybe Hansen." Suddenly his eyes went wide. "Oh my... I shot them!"

Pure unbridled horror filled his eyes. He stared forward, as if in a trance. Mina shook her head rigidly. "No, Rick, you did the right thing," she said. "They were beyond saving. Remember, Hansen _begged_ you to shoot him. You saved him from further suffering. You did the... merciful thing."

Rick looked at her. The horror in his eyes dwindled like a campfire that had just run out of fuels to burn. "Yeah, maybe," he murmured. "But... I... I _shot_ two men!"

Again there was a lengthily pause during which the only sound was chewing.

"We should get out of here," Mina broke the silence.

Rick nodded reluctantly. "You're right."

"Where can we go?" She wondered aloud.

"What direction do we take?"

Mina thought of something. "Was there a map in any of those containers?"

Rick stood up, grunting "There could be," he said.

They looked through all of the containers a second time, but no map.

"Well then," Mina said, putting her hands on her hips. "I guess we just have to go out there and hope for the best."

"I'm the only one left, Mina," Rick said suddenly.

"What?" Mina said, turning to him.

He was staring off into the middle distance again. "First Dillan. Then Hansen. Then Max. Then Grayson. I've worked with Grayson for years. I've been in Max's house. In his home. Hansen - he was a little annoying, but we got along overall." He turned to Mina. His eyes had that haunted look in them once more. "They're dead." He choked the words out. "All but me."

"It's a gift that you survived," Mina said.

"But why me?" He asked.

"So that you could help me, of course. Look, just between you and me - I never really liked those guys. Max, he was alright, I guess. But Grayson? He sort of rubbed me the wrong way," she said. "Look, I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that, out of all of you, I'd prefer to have you by my side right now than any of those other guys. So maybe that's why you survived. We're the compatible ones. We stand the best chance of survival. So, yeah. Maybe that's why."

He looked at her for a long moment. Finally, he said, "Yeah, I guess so."

Mina smiled. He did not return the smile.

Mina yawned. "I don't know about you, but I'm still dead tired," she said. "How about we get a few more hours' rest?"

He nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Should one of us keep watch?" She asked.

"I'll do-"

"You know what, you've had a hard day. Why don't I take the first shift?" She suggested.

"Oh, okay. Fine."

He laid down on the floor, using his arms as a pillow. He closed his eyes, and sighed heavily. Then he was quiet.

Mina sat down in front of the door so that nothing could get in. She occupied herself by fiddling with her knife. Soon though, exhaustion began to weigh on her, dragging her down to the tempting realm of sleep. She resisted it for a while, but ultimately gave in to that allure.


	3. THE FALL

Harding and his daughter Jess were driving to the docks. It was late evening, and a storm that had been brewing all day had finally broken out, casting all the unrequited fury of a tropical thunderstorm upon their little car in the isolated jungle road.

Harding had confidence in his driving but still, that storm troubled him.

Something else troubled him as well. There was a bit of family drama going on back home. Harding had to be there to resolve it. He wasn't looking forward to it in the least bit - in fact part of him was actually willing the storm to slow them down so that they'd miss the boat. But he knew he couldn't do that. Sarah, his oldest daughter, was at home taking care of his wife until he got there. They'd always had a bit of a diverse relationship, but Sarah had graciously put aside her own bitter feelings to take care of her mother. Harding admired her greatly for it.

Then, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you had his youngest daughter, Jess, who sat with him in the Jeep. Mild mannered and introverted, Jess never really put herself out there. She preferred to sit at home and play games and whatnot. Recently though she'd gotten into some trouble - she stole a shirt from the mall, which was entirely unheard of. Harding had hoped to confront her about it sometime tomorrow, but now that wasn't going to happen because they had to leave two days early. Jess wasn't happy about this change of plans in the least. All week she'd been happier than Harding could remember ever seeing her. He didn't want to spoil that. But sometimes plans change. Things happen. Jess was sullen and didn't speak to Harding as they drove in a hard silence down the jungle road. Harding was too distressed with the family business (which he refrained from sharing with Jess,) to make conversation with her, anyway.

They drove for a few uneventful minutes before Harding spotted something ahead: light. It looked like a pair of headlights actually. Harding stopped the Jeep. "Who's that?" Jess asked. Harding shook his head. "I dunno."

He opened his door and looked out it. There was another Jeep parked further along the road, pulled to the side. As Harding observed, the door opened and a lanky figure stepped out of the car and started making his way toward them. As he got closer, Harding recognized who he was.

"Henry! What're you doing out here?" he asked.

Doctor Henry Wu was soaked from head to foot. He shielded his eyes from the torrential rain with his hands and said, "I was going to the dock when my engine gave out."

"That a bummer," Harding said. "Well, boat's leaving in a few minutes. You wanna come with us?"

Wu perked up. "But, I'm all soaked. I'll get the seats wet."

Harding waved his hand in dismissal. "Don't sweat it. Come on, your turning into a popsicle out there."

"Gee, thanks, Gerry," Wu said as he got in the back.

"How are you doing Jess?" he asked Jess.

She nodded and said, "Good, doctor Wu, what about you?"

"Just fine," Wu said. "A little damp and cold but overall, not bad."

Jess smiled a little girlish smile. Harding shook his head and put his foot on the gas pedal.

They drove faster than most people would have deemed safe, but Harding did not care, _he had to make that boat_. Sarah was relying on him to be there.

They took the turns faster than any driving instructor would have approved of, almost skidding off the road on several occasions. Harding glanced at his watch: three minutes left. He accelerated again.

They almost barreled into a tree at one point. Almost crashed right into it. "Gerry, slow down!" Henry Wu begged from the back seat.

Harding did what he said. "I'm sorry."

They reached the dock four minutes after Harding had last checked his watch. They pulled to a slow stop on the grass bordering the dock. Harding opened his door and stepped into the lashing rain. He looked onto the waters and saw the boat sailing away. She was gone. They'd missed their chance. Harding cursed and hesitated a moment before going back into the Jeep. He needed to compose himself first. When he had done so, he ducked back in and sat down.

"So close," Wu said from the back seat.

Harding looked at Jess, and she was pleased. Of course she was. She thought they would would be spending extra time on the island. More time in which she could see more dinosaurs. For some reason seeing her barely-concealed satisfaction kindled a rage within Harding put he managed to contain it. He took a deep breath.

"I guess we're going back to the park," he said at last.

"We can maybe get a chopper to take us back tomorrow," Wu suggested.

Harding nodded. "It's possible." He looked once more at the departing boat.

Then he reversed back onto the road and turned around and drove them out of there.

The drive back was sullen with exception of Jess. Harding tried to not think about the conversation he would have to have with Sarah when he got back, explaining why he would be late. It was all just miserable.

They made it back to the main body of the park in about ten minutes. Harding drove down the road that lead to the visitor center. It came into sight and Harding stopped the Jeep. He, Wu and Jess got out and stepped into the thundering rain. In the distance Harding heard a belt of thunder, but then he listened. That was no thunder, that was the jaw-dropping roar of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He turned to doctor Wu.

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

Wu nodded.

"It sounded like it was coming from over there," Harding said, pointing in front of them.

"Yeah. But the T-rex paddock is over there," said Wu, pointing to the left of them.

There was a pause.

"That's odd," Jess broke the silence with.

"I'm sure there's no problem," Harding mumbled. "Come on, let's get inside."

They walked to the visitor center and started up the marble staircase to the top. Harding opened the huge door and ushered his companions through.

They found themselves in a building with the staple of modern architect stamped all over it. They had truly spared no expense when designing the interior of the central hub of the island. High ceiling with skylights, marble floor, pillars, two massive skeletons locked in combat, enormous windows, and much more.

The small group made their way through the luxurious room to the staircase and started up it. Harding took the lead and led them down a hallway to the Control Room.

"Why are we going here?" Wu asked.

"I thought I'd check up on Arnold," Harding said.

At that moment a large and strong man came out of the Control Room and ran passed them without saying hello.

"Who was that?" Jess asked.

"Robert Muldoon," Harding said. "I wonder what's gotten into him?"

They looked at each other and shrugged. Then they continued down the hallway until they came to the Control Room door. Harding opened it and they went in.

The Control Room was a large, dimly lit room with no windows. From back to front it was lined with computer consoles. Usually a team of Techs monitored the computers twelve hours a day, but now, there was only one man in the room. He sat at the main console and turned to the visitors as they entered. He was John Arnold, head engineer and trusted supervisor. Right now he looked bedraggled and stricken. "Hi guys," he said.

"Hi Ray," Wu replied. "How are you?"

Arnold scowled. "How am I? Not good!" he said.

"Oh, what's wrong?" Wu asked.

"What do you _mean_ what's wrong?" Arnold sputtered. "Do you even know what's happening here?"

"No," Wu said.

Arnold took a deep breath as if to calm himself. "The island's a mess. The systems. They got turned off. Nedry, he... he did something."

"Wait a minute," Harding said, stepping forward. "You mean all the systems are offline?"

"Yeah."

"Which means..."

"Which means the fences and cameras and everything are no longer operating," Arnold said.

A wave of dread crashed over Harding as he thought of the implications. "Then the dinosaurs can get out, right?"

"They are able to do it, but I doubt any of them will," Arnold said. "They've spent all their lives behind fences. They learned long ago that if they touch those fences, they'll receive a shock. So I doubt they'll approach them now."

"That's true, but I just don't understand how the system could have gotten shut off," Wu said. "You said something about Nedry..."

"That's right. Nedry said he was running some diagnostics or something. That he'd be turning off one or two minor systems. I wasn't really listening. But he sure didn't say anything about turning off the entire security system."

"Maybe it was unintentional?"

"I might believe that if Nedry was still here," Arnold said. "If he was trying to fix it."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. He vanished around the time he said he would be shutting off the systems. Haven't seen him since," Arnold explained.

"I can't believe this... Is anyone look for him?"

"Every guard I could spare is out there right now looking for him."

"I always knew there was something deficient about Dennis," Harding said gravely.

"We all suspected it I think. But no one actually believed he would be stupid enough to try it," Arnold said.

"So you have no way of knowing if any dinosaurs are out and about."

"Yep. I'm essentially blind. But as I said before, I doubt any of them will attempt to breach their confines."

"Can you get the systems back?" Harding asked.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Arnold sputtered. "It's not as easy as a one two three. Nedry really screwed things up. It could take me days to untangle the mess he's left."

"We don't have weeks though," Wu said.

"Thanks doc, I hadn't considered that."

Harding put a hand on Wu's shoulder as if to tell him to hold back.

"What would make things a million times easier would be to have Nedry here to help me out," Arnold said.

"Maybe I can be of some assistance." said Harding.

Arnold nodded. "Any help would be appreciated."

Wu turned to Harding. "What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I don't know exactly," Harding said.

A silence settled during which the only sounds that could be heard was Arnold's button-tapping on the keyboard.

"Dad," Jess said. "This place is safe right?"

Harding nodded. "Fairly safe."

"It's fortified," Wu put in. "Anything smaller than a T-rex will have great trouble breaching this place."

"So long as all the doors are closed," Harding said. "We _did_ close the door on our way in, didn't we...?"

Then a scream broke the silence, coming from downstairs.

Harding reacted on a dime. He ran to a back room and flung open the door and grabbed a rifle from the rack. Charging back out, he told Arnold, Jess and Wu to stay there. Then he ran through the room to the door that led back in to the hallway. He looked around attentively in case there was something out there, but there wasn't. He charged down the hallway back to the staircase. At the top of the stairs, he looked around there on the floor, writhing under the assault of several dark-green but rather miniscule lizards, was a man.

Harding ran down the stairs, almost falling the process. At the bottom, he leveled his rifle, tucking the stock into his armpit, and took aim. _Bang_! One of the compy's went flying.

The man was moving so erratically that Harding hesitated to fire again, worried that he might accidently shoot the man instead. Instead he ran forward and grabbed one of the wriggling bodies, flinging it as far as he could. He grabbed another one and threw it. Then a curious weight landed on his back and he craned his head around to look. There was a compy on his back, the creature lunged and bit him on the ear. Harding yelled and reached around to grab it, but it dodged. He felt another one jump onto his back; and another. Harding dove to the ground and rolled. He heard the snapping of small bones under him. He started to get up but more of them started to attack. They bit his ears and neck. Dizziness began to cloud his senses, making him clumsy and inordinate. A strange tingling in his fingers. He tried desperately to get up, but they were everywhere and he was too dizzy. He began to crawl on his stomach as the little dinosaurs slowly ripped him...

He collapsed, unable to go on. He felt their little feet on his back, their jaws on his flesh. The light dimmed. Then he heard shouting and footsteps running downstairs. Someone began pulling them off of him. Harding lifted his head weakly, opened his eyes - but the effort was too much, and he dropped. Slowly unconsciousness took him.

***GCG***

Harding blinked and looked around. He was in a dark room and nothing could be seen. Dully, he heard voices on the other side of a door. With a grunt Harding pushed himself up. He felt lightheaded, disengaged from his own body. The results of the poison, he figured. _At least I have control over my body again_.

He got to his feet, shakily, and made his way to the door and opened it. There was a short hallway that led to a larger room, and in that room he could see people - many people, all talking and looking at each other. Harding stumbled down the hallway, squinting in the harsh light from many flashlights that were arranged throughout the room.

"Woah there!" said a voice. Several people had turned to look at him arriving. One of them, a red-haired baseball cap-wearing guy in his thirties, stepped forward and put a hand on Harding. "Gerry... it's me, Ed. You're okay. You're safe with us."

Harding blinked and tried to focus on the unfamiliar face. "What's happening?" he asked blurrily.

"You were attacked by compys, remember? But you're okay. And thanks to you, so is Jim," Ed replied.

"Who's Jim?" Harding asked.

"The guy you saved. The guy who was being attacked," Ed said. "Come on, you need to sit down."

He led him through the room to a sofa where Harding sat down. He put his head back and closed his eyes, still feeling the effects of the poison.

He heard people talking about him, saying his name. Someone sat on the couch beside him, and he opened his eyes and turned his head to see -

"Jessy," he murmured. "Are you okay?"

"Why you asking me? Nothing happened to me. Are _you_ okay?" Jess replied.

It was nice to hear the concern in her voice. "I'm fine," he said. "A bit...uh...groggy," he found the word at last.

"You were bleeding quite a bit, but Jane and Ed got you fixed up," Jess went on to say.

Harding squinted his eyes as he looked around the room at the various blurry faces. "Who all is here?"

"I don't know all of them," Jess said. "But there's Ed, Jane, a few guards...yeah."

"And where are we? This doesn't look like the safety bunker."

"Yeah, it's not. We're in the lodge."

Harding frowned. "Why? The visitor center is safer."

"Uh...I don't know. I think Jane and Ed think it's safer here."

"They're wrong," Harding said. "Can you find Jane for me please?"

"Uh...sure." The pressure beside him lifted and Harding listened to his daughter asking for Jane.

A few moments later someone walked up in front of Harding. "Hi Gerry," said a sweetly voice, "it's me, Jane. What can I do for you?"

Harding looked up at the woman, his eyes still unable to focus. "Hi Jane. Jess told me that you brought everyone here. I wanted to know why when it's safer at the visitor center."

"Safer?" Jane repeated. "You got attacked in the visitor center!"

"That was because we left the door open," Harding said.

"Actually, Dad, I checked: the door was closed," Jess interrupted.

"So they got in some other way," Jane said. "Like I said, that place is not safe."

"It's safer than out here," Harding insisted.

"Well, that leads us to the second reason: space. There are about twenty of us - workers, guards, cooks - all of us together makes about twenty people. And that's just too many to fit inside that small bunker," Jane explained.

Harding knew that wasn't right. "It was designed for forty at least," he said.

He heard Jane sigh. "There's also the issue about comfort. Out here we have a nice kitchen, couches, bedrooms, two bathrooms... we can live in here for weeks on end. In the bunker we had none of that."

"Comfort is the reason you brought us all out here?" Harding said. "For crying out loud..."

"Look Gerry," Jane said sternly. "There's an iron fence protecting us. Arnold says that the dinosaurs are very unlikely to leave their enclosures-"

"The compys did."

"Compys aren't very dangerous."

Harding made a face.

"Okay, fine, they're moderately dangerous. The thing is, nothing is going to happen. Arnold has it all under control. The dinosaurs have been living in their pens for years on end, they won't attempt to get out. They have everything they need."

With that she turned and walked away. Harding wasn't sorry that the argument was done. Mild apprehension riddled his stomach as he chewed over the possibility of some raptors or the T-rex finding them there.

"I think Jane's right," Jess said, pulling Harding out of his reprieve. "I think we're pretty safe here, Dad."

"Gee Jess, I sure hope so."


	4. ATTACK

As time passed Harding felt himself slowly returning to normal. He got to introduce himself to Jim, the man whose life he had supposedly saved.

"Hi, I heard you're Jim," he said.

The man was tall and skinny with short hair, the colour of straw, and brown-green eyes and prominent facial features. He nodded and offered a weak smile, "Yeah, that's me. Look man, I just want to say thank you. You probably saved my life."

Harding smiled back. "No problem-o. My own life was saved by Henry Wu. I can't seem to find him, though."

"Maybe he stayed behind to help Arnold," Jim said.

"That's possible," Harding said.

Jim looked behind Harding and something flashed in his eyes. Harding turned and saw two men walking toward them. The first was a blonde man with very prominent muscles under his shirt. The second was a leaner guy with a shaggy dark hair and two day's worth of stubble dotting his chin and cheeks. The blonde man said, "Hi, Dr. Harding. I'm Dwight, and this is Baxter." They shook hands. "I heard about your feat in the visitor center. Just want to say, thanks," Dwight continued. He grabbed Jim's arm gently. "This guy here is a good friend of mine. Saved me a lot of heartache by coming to his aid. So yeah, thanks."

Harding wasn't used to all this praise but he nonetheless accepted it courtly. "It was no problem," he said. With a laugh he added, "I paid dearly for it, didn't I!"

"That you did," Dwight laughed. "You look like a guy who's been hammered for a week. How you feeling?"

"Like a guy who's been hammered for a week," Harding replied.

Dwight laughed and clapped his arm. "You got a fighter's spirit in you. That'll come in handy if this situation goes south."

"Why would it?" Harding asked.

Dwight shrugged. "You never know. Those dinosaurs might decide that they'd like to check out the world beyond their fences. And if that happens, I'm glad you're here to help us deal with it."

"I'll...do my best," Harding said.

Now Baxter pushed Dwight to the side. "I thought you might like to know that we're looking for the guests," the man said.

Harding was flummoxed for a moment. Then he remembered, _oh yeah, the guests!_ Grant and Malcolm and Sattler. "Where are they?" he asked.

"That's what Muldoon and Sattler are trying to find out," Baxter explained. "I'm in contact with them." He held up a walkie-talkie. "These things are great. Robust. They can pick up a frequency from something like a hundred miles."

"Maybe you should call them now, and see if they've found the guests," Harding suggested.

"Good idea." Baxter put his finger on the "talk" button and said, "Muldoon, come in. Muldoon, are you there?"

A few moments later Muldoon's voice replied, "Yes. What do you want?"

The confrontational edge in his voice clearly took Baxter by surprise. "Uh, nothing," he said. "I was just wondering if you've found the guests yet."

Muldoon took a long time to reply. "Yes, we've found them," he said at last.

"Great! And are they-"

"We have Malcolm," Muldoon interrupted. "No idea where Grant and the kids are."

"Oh," Baxter said. "And what about-"

"Gennaro?" Muldoon sighed. "Not much is left of him."

There was an awkward pause. "What do you mean...?"

"He's dead," Muldoon said plainly. "Found his foot on the road. The Rex got him. She broke out of her pen and ate him. Both tour vehicles have been smashed."

Harding felt a terrible wave of fear and dread crash into him as he listened to this latest development. Looking around, he noticed that the room had gone quiet. Everyone was quietly listening to the exchange.

"Are you bringing Malcolm back?" Baxter asked filling in the silence.

"Yes."

"Okay. Thanks."

That was the end of the conversation.

People in the room started asking questions: "Is the T-rex out? Are the kids alright? Wait, what happened?"

Jane and Ed went around the room trying to calm everyone down. Jane turned to them and snapped, "Next time, have your conversation in another room. We're trying to keep everyone calm here."

Harding nodded. "She's right. Everyone panicking is the last thing we need."

"Well sorry to offend her royal highness," Dwight said with a roll of his eyes.

They dispersed and went to attend to their own dealings. Harding found he was exhausted and asked Ed if it would be alright if he laid down.

"Of course," Ed said. "I would expect nothing less after what happened to you."

Harding went back down the hallway and into the room he'd been in before. But he found someone was already sleeping in that bed. He closed the door hoping the sleeping person hadn't noticed him. He tried another room, knocking beforehand. When no answer came, he carefully opened the door and found it was empty. He went in, closing the door behind him, and crawled into bed.

He slept soundly for a long time but was awoken by the sound of screams and gunshots. Scrambling to his feet, he ran to the door and opened it and stumbled into the hallway. One thought was on his mind: Jess!

He stumbled in the main room and found the place in disarray. People were panicked and running around. Running toward him in fact. Several workers pushed past him on their way to the back, and hopefully safety. Harding looked around and saw a terrifying sight: a velociraptor was part way through the window, slashing with its claws and snapping its jaws at the terrified people. Baxter, Dwight, and another worker that Harding did not know were opening fire on the raptor. The raptor hissed and snapped its jaws once more before going limp like a ragdoll. She dangled from the window, bullet holes bleeding in her skin.

"Everyone to the back!" Dwight shouted to the remaining people still in the room.

"Did anyone die?" Harding asked. He was distracted by seeing Jessica. A wave of relief crashed over him and he reached out to her.

At that moment the window behind her exploded and a raptor crashed through. Jessy screamed and ran toward Harding. He grabbed her and pushed her down the hallway. He heard gunshots behind him along with the screeching of the raptor. He ran down the hallway with his daughter and pushed her into the closest room. Jane, Jim, and a few others were huddled inside already.

"Shut that door!" someone screamed.

Harding turned around and closed the door. "Give me something to prop it with!" he shouted.

Jim stood up and grabbed a chair and brought it over to Harding. Harding propped the chair's back under the doorknob, adjusted it to make sure it was stable.

"You really think that will keep a raptor out?" Jane asked.

Harding turned to her. "I sure hope so," he said. "No everyone, move to the back. Stay away from the windows."

They huddled in the corner the furthest away from the door and windows.

At that moment there came the sound of glass breaking and demented screams. Harding's blood turned to ice. Something was going on in one of the other bedrooms. He heard screams and shouts and a long, mournful wail. He also heard the demented roars of the velociraptors.

"We're going to die!" Jane screamed with fear.

"Keep your lid on!" Harding retorted. He went to the door.

"Don't open that!" Jim begged.

Harding ignored him and ripped the chair away from the door and opened it. He looked into the hall. He saw a velociraptor in the main room, crouched over a body, eating it. Dwight and Baxter ran at Harding, their eyes as wide as could be. He got out of the way and they pushed their way in.

"We're being overrun!" Dwight yelled. He fell onto a knee and sat there, panting. Harding noticed a long and ragged-looking cut on his back.

"Who...who was it eating?" Harding managed to choke out.

"Darrell," Baxter replied. "Poor son of a-"

He was cut off by a clanking sound coming from the other side of the door. Everyone fell quiet. They listened closely to the sound of the clanks. They heard heavy footsteps too, and ragged, quick breathing.

"Nobody move," Baxter whispered.

The footsteps and clanks and breathing became louder and louder. Harding felt a shiver of fear run down his spine and he hugged his daughter close.

"You were right Gerry," a voice whispered in his ear. It took Harding a moment to realize that it was Jane. "You said we weren't safe here, and you were right." She began to cry. "I'm going to die! I'm going to die!" she began to scream. Someone covered her mouth, and silence fell. But it was too late. The raptor had heard her. Suddenly the door flew wide open. Harding's eyes widened as he glimpsed the terrifying silhouette of a velociraptor standing in the doorway. A tremor of unheard of horror crashed into him as the beast took one leisurely step into the bedroom.

Harding's ears exploded in a deafening bang as two gunshots went off simultaneously. The raptor was pushed back by an unseen force, screaming with pain. Dwight and Baxter were on their feet and moving toward the door, both firing. The raptor's demented howls continued to emanate from outside for a few more moments, then silence fell. Baxter turned to them. "We have to go," he said. "Dwight reload. You guys, come on, on your feet."

"But the raptors-"

"I don't wanna hear it," Baxter interrupted. "If we stay here we die. Now let's go."

Everyone stood up, reluctantly. Harding kept his arms around Jess, ready to defend her no matter what. Screams continued to emanate from the other rooms, terrible screams that made Harding's blood curl. "What about the others?" he asked.

Dwight sighed. "We can't afford to help them."

"Yes, we can!" Harding yelled.

Dwight reeled on him and looked him in the eye. "I need you Gerry! I need you to help me get these few to safety. I can't have you risking your neck needlessly. Please Gerry, I need you."

Harding nodded reluctantly. "Fine, fine."

Dwight nodded. "Okay. Now everyone, when I saw "go", you run for the hills. If we can make it to the Jeeps, we'll have a good shot and making it out alive. You with me?"

"I don't think I'll be able to do it," Jane whimpered.

"You can do it Jane. No more time to discuss." He turned and threw open the door. "Go! I'll cover you."

Harding ran forward holding Jessy's hand. He ran down the hallway into the broken and battered main room. He ran past Darrell's body and ran to the door and threw it wide. Baxter was behind him. He got in front of him and charged out into the night. Harding cast a glance over his shoulder and saw Dwight backing away from two velociraptors. The creatures snarled and spat at him. Dwight fired again and again but he ran out of bullets, and then the raptors jumped on him.

Harding closed his eyes and turned away from the awful sight and pulled Jessy out the door. They ran and ran into the night with the others. Jane, Jim, Baxter. The rain fell heavily down adding to the confusion and chaos. Harding ran into something hard and cold and looked up to see a pole. He turned to the side and saw many other poles being held together by a thin mesh. The fence. Harding saw Baxter and the others crowded around the gate. Harding led Jessy to them. Someone opened the gate and Baxter shouted "Run! Run!" and they all ran out. On the road ahead Harding saw the Jeeps. He pumped his legs and ran faster. Thunder rolled overhead. Harding reached one of the Jeeps and threw wide the door and pushed Jessy inside. He held it open for Jim and another man, then got in himself. Baxter climbed into the front seat. He reached down and turned the key and the Jeep roared to life. The vehicle lurched forward so fast that Harding hit his head on the back of the seat. The Jeep sped off into the night. Harding closed his eyes and let out a long, shaking breath thankful for the reprieve, however temporary it might be. Baxter drove in grim silence. "We're heading back to the visitor center!" he announced.

At that moment there was a crash and the Jeep lurched to one side. Harding hit his head against the window. His head erupted in pain and he blinked when tears sprang into his eyes. He heard screaming but he didn't feel like screaming. Dimly he turned and saw a dark shape clinging to the side of the Jeep as it drove forward down the road. A raptor had jumped onto the Jeep. There was a crash and the raptor's deadly forearm reached through the broken window and clutched Jim's face. Jim screamed.

Suddenly the Jeep bounced down. Harding heard Baxter screaming and cursing and telling everyone to hold on. Then the Jeep leaned over and Harding felt it was falling. The Jeep fell onto its side, squashing the raptor underneath it. Harding went limp.

He was awoken what could only have been a few moments later by Baxter. The man was bloodied and bruised as he looked down at him. Harding opened his eyes and realized that he was still belted in to the Jeep and was on his side. Urgency returned to him. With shaking hands he unclipped his seatbelt and fell against the crushed window. His cheek fell on something scratchy and hard, and Harding realized after only a moment that it was the skin of the velociraptor. He pulled himself up and reached up to Baxter, who took his hand and strained to pull him out. Harding came into open air and felt the rain and wind. Baxter helped him get down from the side-ways-flipped vehicle. Harding stood on the road and saw something rush at him and immediately flinched away from it. But it was just Jess. His daughter hugged him tightly. She was shaking all over but she didn't cry. She was too shocked to cry.

"Alright everyone," Baxter shouted over the rain. "Follow me."

No one argued. Jess pulled on Harding's hand and said, "Let's go back." Her voice was oddly dull.

"We are," Harding said. He pulled on her but she didn't come.

"Let's go," she said dully.

Harding grabbed her and lifted her off the ground. She put her head on his shoulder and shivered. Harding carried her and followed Baxter into the jungle.


	5. TOWER

They stumbled their way through the impenetrable darkness. Harding did not like that Baxter was leading them into the very jungle, and he said so. But Baxter had his reasons. "There's an observation deck not far from here," he explained. "I figured we'd have a better time walking a short distance in the jungle than a long distance out in the open."

A few minutes later they came to a small round building and Baxter opened the door for them. They went in and found themselves in a small compact room with barely anything in it. There was a staircase to one side. They started up the staircase. It was a slow and painful waltz to the top but when they got there, they came to an observation deck. Harding looked up but could see nothing but darkness and the tops of the trees.

Baxter looked around and nodded. "This should be good," he said. "It will keep us safe for the time being."

Harding refrained from saying any unhelpful comments.

Harding put Jess down in the middle of the platform, as far away from the sides as could he achieved. Then he sat down himself. The others came and sat down too. Baxter, Jim, and the man that Harding didn't know.

This can't be all of us! He thought with outrage. There must be more survivors. "Do you think anyone else made it?" he asked.

There was a brief pause during which the only sound to be heard was the sound of rain hitting the thatch roof. Then the man Harding didn't know said, "I think so. I think it's likely. There were more Jeeps, remember? It's very possible that one at least made it back to the center."

"Yeah," Jim said. "Odds are they escaped."

"I wonder when they will come looking for us," the other man said.

"Probably they won't," Baxter said. "They've got no way to know we're even alive. They won't risk their own lives to try to save ours."

"Well, you don't know that."

"I know what people are like."

"What about Dwight?" Harding snapped.

"Dwight was a special snowflake," Baxter tarried.

"True that," Jim said.

Harding felt his anger cooling. "I'm sorry," he said.

Baxter smiled. "Don't worry about it. When Arnold restores the power, he'll call for help."

"Yeah. No need to get up in arms yet," Jim said.

They remained up there for several hours. Exactly how long no-one knew, nor did they really care. But it must have been a long time because the storm clouds cleared up and the first glimpse of the sun could be seen poking up over the treetops. Harding and Baxter stared at the gloriously sight, feeling hope flare up inside them. Hope that maybe, after all, they might be able to survive.

"I'll be right back," Baxter said, and he went downstairs. He came back a few minutes later with a bunch of stuff. "Food," he said, setting some canned stuff down. "And a first-aid-kit." He put the kit down as well. "Now I know this is really late, but does anyone have any serious injuries that need tending?"

No one did. "I might be bleeding internally," Harding said jokingly.

"You and me both friend."

They all had some minor cuts and bruises, but overall there were no serious injuries; not even for Jim who recounted with terrifying detail the incident with the raptor grabbing his face.

"Not even a cut," he said, turning his cheeks for them to see. "I think I'm blessed."

"Maybe the girl just appreciated your complexion and had the good spirit not to ruin it," Baxter drawled.

They cleaned themselves up and then Baxter inserted the tip of his knife into the cans and cut the lids off likewise. They passed the food around and ate as much as they could. Jessy ate more than anyone else. And thankfully, she seemed to be coming back from that temporal delirium from the night before.

"You're a good sport Nicki," Baxter said appraisingly.

"Thanks," Jess said. "And it's Jessy."

"Oh, my bad."

They remained in the deck for several more hours during which the sun climbed higher and higher into the sky and warmed their chilly, battered bodies. There was no sign of any rescue attempt, nor of any dinosaurs. They could clearly see the visitor center from their vantage point, but no one made any effort to come to their rescue. "Ah, screw them," Baxter said.

"Remember, they have no way of knowing we survived," Jim said.

Harding took the time to introduce himself to the man he didn't know. He thought, _if I die or he dies, I want to at least know his name_. He felt like they shared an intimate bond after everything they'd been through and survived together. The man's name was Morgan Talbot, and he was a twenty-something year-old from Washington, incidentally the same city where Harding lived. "We'll have to grab a coffee together sometime, that is, if we survive," Harding said.

"Coffee? Bore. Let's go out for beer!" Morgan replied energetically.

The hours crept past uneventfully. Towards midday Harding began to snooze. Then, he was awakened by a commotion. He opened his eyes and sat up, only to find two complete strangers standing there in the observation deck with them. "Who are you?" he demanded.

The strangers turned to him. One was a man and the other was a woman. The man was tall and muscular, and the woman was muscular as well, yet thin and compact. Both of them had many cuts and bruises on their bodies.

"Ah Gerry, you're awake," Baxter said. "Allow me to introduce Rick and Mina."

The man nodded to Harding and the woman did too.

"You guys don't look like workers," Harding said, standing to his feet.

"We're a new branch," Rick offered.

"Uh huh." Harding looked them both over. "Funny choice of clothes."

"We only just arrived," Rick said.

Harding stared at the man. "Ah. It's funny. I heard there was a little incident at the docks the other day. Apparently a few stowaways had crept on board and made off into the jungle after killing a few crewmen. Know anything about that?"

The strangers tensed up at his words and Harding knew at once that they knew exactly what he was talking about. He looked behind them at Baxter and saw that the guard had pulled a pistol out of his belt and was pointing it at the two people.

Then the woman sighed. "Yes, we were part of the group that stowed away on your ship."

Harding folded his arms. "Why?"

The pair exchanged a glance. "We just wanted to do some sight-seeing," Rick said.

"Sightseeing? Did that include killing innocent men, or was that just a spontaneous thing?"

The man looked down guiltily but the woman held his stare. "We did wrong," she said. "And we have paid for it. All our companions are dead. We are the only ones left."

"How many others were there?" Baxter asked.

"Four others," Rick said.

"I'm sorry for your losses, really I am," Harding said not-so-sincerely. "But don't think that just because you've suffered doesn't mean we won't have you in to the authorities when this is all over."

The woman smiled oddly. "At this point, buddy, I'd be happy to just get off this island. I don't care what the repercussions are. And I have my reasons for doing what I did."

"I'm sure you do," Harding said. To Baxter he said, "We have to keep our eyes on them at all times. I doubt they'll find issue with shooting us just as quickly as they shot those crewmen."

Now Rick exploded in a rage. "For the record I didn't shoot anyone!" Something flashed in his eyes. "Well, okay, I shot two of my friends because they were dying anyway. But other than that, I had nothing to do with the slaughter on the docks! Neither did she." He gestured to Mina.

"I don't care," Harding said. "Thanks to you a lot more people might get hurt."

"I wouldn't worry about us," Mina said. "You got much bigger problems on your hands."

"No problem is too small or big," Harding retorted. "Now, do you want some food?"

This offer clearly took the strangers by surprise. It even took Harding slightly by surprise. But he was going through with it. "We have a fine selection of yams and beets. Go ahead."

They ate, all the while Baxter kept a close eye on them.

"My throat's a dry oasis," Morgan said to Harding. "Any chance you found some water down there, Baxter?"

Baxter shook his head. "No such luck."

"There's plenty of water down in the mud," Mina said as she ate. She was hand-fisting her food, scrapping the can clean and licking her fingers afterward.

"Thanks honey, I'll keep that in mind," Morgan said rolling his eyes.

"So what's your guys' plan?" Rick asked casually.

"Survive," Harding grunted.

"Care to share a bit more details?" Rick asked.

"Sure, why not. Well, there's this guy named Arnold - brilliant guy. He's trying to restore power to the park. Not that that matters at this point seeing as how everything has escaped. But if he does get the power up, he'll be able to call for help, and hopefully we'll all get out of here."

"Nice plan," Mina said.

"Glad you approve."

"So are you guys just going to stay here till you get rescued?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Well, what if those...raptors come back?"

Harding leaned forward. "Have you seen raptors?"

The man nodded. "Saw a couple of them last night. Scary things they are."

"Dangerous too," Jim said. "The most dangerous animals to probably ever walk the earth."

Mina turned to Jim with an incredulous look. "Then why in the world did you recreate them?"

Jim stared at her. "Uh..."

Mina shook her head. "You have no one to blame for what's happened here than yourselves."

"Thanks, I hadn't realized that yet," Harding said.

Mina finished eating and then stood up. "Come on Rick, let's go," she said.

"And where do you think you're going?" Baxter asked, drawing the pistol out again.

Mina turned to him calmly. "We don't fancy waiting around to be rescued. We're going to find a way off this island ourselves."

"No you're not," Harding said. "You're staying with us."

Mina rolled her eyes. "Don't you have bigger things to worry about?"

"Haven't we been over this before? You're staying here, and that's that."

Mina turned back to Baxter. "I don't believe that he'll shoot us," she said.

"No?" Baxter asked and broke into a wild, almost demented grin. "Please do test that theory."

"Mina, I think we should stay here," Rick said, defusing the situation. "We got a much better chance with a group. Besides, it's not like we could leave if we wanted to."

Mina looked at him and frowned. "Alright, if you say so."

"Glad we resolved this without dispute," Baxter said, shoving the gun back into his pocket.


	6. OTHERS

Baxter turned back and looked out the observation deck. Harding kept his eyes on the two prisoners who sat down and rested for a while. Suddenly, Baxter called out: "I see them! Look! There's people."

Harding leapt to his feet and ran to Baxter's side to see for himself what the other man saw. Way down below on the road, two figures were making their way toward the visitor center. They walked up the grand staircase and went inside the building.

"Who do you think they were?" Harding asked.

"I don't know."

"One of them was short. Do you think it was the kids and Doctor Grant?"

Baxter nodded. "Could be."

"Well, they made it all the way here without getting eaten. We should be able to too, don't you think?"

Baxter nodded again. "I'm thinking yes."

"I agree," said Mina behind them. With a jolt Harding remembered he was supposed to be watching them and he spun around to face the two strangers. Mina threw him a mocking glance.

"The raptors have probably gone deep into the forest," Baxter said. "I think we should try to get to the visitor center."

"Is anyone opposed to this idea?" Harding asked.

"Why don't we just stay here?" Jess asked. "It's been hours and we're still fine. But down there, we were only in the visitor center for a few minutes before you got hurt." She looked at Harding.

"Maybe she's right," Morgan said.

Harding thought about it. "We don't want to unintentionally get left behind, is the thing," he said.

"If any of our friends made it to the visitor center, they'll be sure to tell Hammond and the rest of them about us," Baxter said. "I don't think they'll leave without taking a look around for us first."

"You're both right," Rick said. "Time to come to a decision."

Harding was deep in thought when he heard the sound of an engine break the silence in the distance. He turned around and saw a Jeep driving down the road toward them. He couldn't see who was driving it though.

Harding looked at the others. "Maybe that's Muldoon coming to find us."

"Maybe," Baxter said.

"We should go down and see," Jim said.

But no one moved. Now it came down to it, no-one really wanted to leave the tower that had protected them for so long.

"Good grief, you guys take longer to decide something than...than...politicians!" Mina said.

"Politicians, huh? That was the best you could come up with?" Morgan said dryly.

Mina shot him a dirty look. Then she turned to Harding. "Let me go down."

"No way," Harding said. "If you're going, I'm going."

"And if you're going then _I'm_ going!" Jess put in.

"And I sure ain't leaving you now," Baxter said.

Harding smiled knowing that a decision had been made.

"You better take this." Baxter handed Gerry his pistol. "You and I will protect the rest."

Harding took the gun.

"Okay," Baxter said with a look around. "Let's go."

They went down the stairs and came to the little room at the bottom. Jim grabbed a couple more cans of yams, "just in case," and then Harding pushed open the door and they all went out.

Back in the jungle Harding's every nerve flew through the roof. He kept his head on a swivel in case something, anything, jumped out. He kept both hands tightly firm on the pistol. Baxter with his rifle brought up the rear.

"It's not far to the road," he whispered.

Harding kept Jessy with him at all times.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the road came in sight through the huge leaves. They pushed their way through the leaves and emerged onto the road. Harding heard the sound of an engine and turned his head to see a Jeep rolling toward them. The vehicle stopped and none other than Henry Wu jumped out.

"You're alive!" the man cried with obvious joy, his arms open like he wanted to hug them all. "Come on, get in!"

They ran to the Jeep and started piling in. Harding walked up to Wu. Wu grabbed him and hugged him. Harding laughed and hugged him back. "I thought for sure you were dead but I didn't give up!" he said. Then he noticed Mina and Rick seemingly for the first time. "Who're these two?" he asked suspiciously.

Harding said, "I'll explain it when we get back."

Henry accepted that with a nod and then gestured for Harding to get in the Jeep.

As they drove along the straight road with the visitor center in sight, Harding turned to Wu and asked, "So, did...did anyone else make it?"

Wu nodded and smiled reassuringly. "They did. Jane is there, and Carol, and Tim and Bob."

"Is that all?" Harding asked.

The other man shook his head. "That's all."

Harding looked down in grief. A moment later the Jeep bounced in a pothole and his head struck the roof.

By now they were passing the visitor center, and Wu turned and took them down a little windy road in the jungle surrounded by dense foliage. Harding was instantly on edge being back in the unfamiliar jungle, and he felt his breath rate rise exceedingly. He took several large breaths to calm himself down.

Then the Jeep was slowing down and stopped. Wu got out and ushered them to get out. Harding first with Jessy, then Mina and Rick, Baxter with his rifle aimed at the trees in case anything popped out, and finally Jim and Morgan. They ran quickly and swiftly to an iron gate like the one back at the lodge.

Wu reached into his pocket and drew out a set of keys on a chain. He selected one of the keys and inserted it into the lock on the gate. He turned his hand and the lock opened. He pushed open the gate and went through, with everyone closely following.

They came to the door and Wu opened it. Inside was a large and simple room. There were shelves on either side holding weaponry and big durable flashlights. On a table in the middle of the room, was a man in dark clothes whose skin was tan. Beside him stood a short and portly old man with a snowy white beard and hair: John Hammond. The old man looked up and smiled at them as they entered.

Harding heard a girl's voice "You're alive!" and turned to see Jane running at him. She put her arms around him and hugged him. He hugged her back. Then she pulled away and looked him in the eye. Her eyes were stricken and guilty.

"Oh Gerry," she said mournfully. "I don't expect you to forgive me, but I'm really, so so sorry for being such an idiot. You were right, the lodge wasn't safe. It's my fault that they died." She sobbed.

Harding couldn't help but feel bad for the woman. He put his hands on her arms and looked her in the eye. "We all make mistakes," he reminded her.

She looked relieved that he wasn't angry at her. She nodded.

Harding looked around at the sea of faces and was distressed to not see Dr. Sattler or Muldoon or Arnold among them. "Where are they?" he asked aloud.

"You mean Muldoon and Ellie?" a worker, Tim, asked.

"Arnold went to restore the power," a soft voice murmured. Harding turned to see Hammond looking at him with sad, weary eyes. "He didn't come back. Muldoon and Ellie went to go find him."

"They haven't come back yet?" Harding asked, feeling dread clot his chest.

The old man nodded simply.

Harding put a hand on his shoulder for a moment before diverting his attention to the man on the table. "Dr. Malcolm!" he exclaimed. Remembering the doctor's sense of humour, he added, "You look worse for wear."

Malcolm turned his head and looked at Harding. "I feel it," he said.

"What happened?" Harding asked.

Malcolm reached down and uncovered his leg. A sharp, sour tang hit Harding's nose and he automatically backed away from the grisly sight of Malcolm's mutilated leg.

Malcolm grinned wryly. "I will admit, I'm a bit disappointed she didn't give me her full attention."

Harding looked at him. "What?"

"The Rex," Malcolm said. "She didn't even bite me. Just knocked be down and collapsed a building onto me."

Their conversation was interrupted by a static buzzing coming from the radio on the table. Malcolm reached down to pick it up, but Hammond slapped his hand away and grabbed it. He held the radio next to his ear: "Hello? Who's there?"

"Is that you...?" said a garbled voice. Harding could barely hear the words. Hammond looked up and said, "Everyone, be quiet!" with a few frantic waves of his hand. The garble of conversation died down and there was silence. Hammond said into the radio, "Say again? Who's there?"

"It's me, Charlotte," said a female's voice.

Hammond leaned in. "Charlotte! It's good to hear you're alright."

"You too John," Charlotte said over the radio. "How is everyone else?"

Hammond looked quickly around the room. "Fine, yes, we're fine."

"Is Wu alive?" the voice proceeded to ask.

Hammond's bushy white eyebrows perked with surprise and he said, "Yes, he is. He's fine."

"Good. Listen, we have a bit of a situation here," Charlotte said.

"What do you mean?"

"We're trapped," she said. "Me and my students. We're inside the lab, and there are some raptors outside trying to break in. We can't get out. Has Arnold gotten the power back on yet?"

Hammond hesitated a moment before answering. "He's working on it."

"Well, I'm not sure how much time we have here," Charlotte said. "They're chewing through the iron bars. I reckon we have about half an hour before they get in."

"Do they have any weapons?" Harding asked, and Hammond forwarded the question to Charlotte.

"No," she said.

"But there should be rifles there," Hammond protested. "We stocked all the facilities-"

"Davis and Leonard had the guns, and..." She broke off awkwardly.

Hammond clenched the radio tightly. "They're not..."

"They are," Charlotte confirmed.

Hammond lost his strength and toppled backward, luckily Morgan was there and caught him.

"Hammond?" said the radio, hanging loosely from the old man's hand. Morgan grabbed it, and when Harding gestured for him to give it to him, Morgan obliged.

"Hello, Charlotte?" Harding said. "It's Harding. Can you tell me how many raptors there are?"

"Several," the woman responded. "I'd say at least four."

Harding ran a quick calculation in his head. "That can't be right," he said. "Because Baxter and Dwight killed one raptor. There are only three left."

"Oh, I guess I miscounted," Charlotte said hastily. "Look, they're getting in: can someone come rescue us?"

"That's going to be hard," Harding said. "You're all the way on the other side of the island."

"Yeah, and if someone doesn't get here in half an hour we're all going to be..."

Hammond put his hands over his ears.

Harding said, "Alright. We'll think of something."

"Also," Charlotte said. "If you do decide to come help us, bring Henry with you. I need him for something."

"For what?"

"We have a slight problem with the data," Charlotte said vaguely. "Look, it's too complicated to explain. Just bring him if you come."

Harding looked at Wu, and raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Okay," he said into the radio.

"Great. Now hurry. I can hear them," Charlotte urged.

Harding switched the radio off and put it down. "That was..."

"Suspicious," Baxter finished.

"She miscounted the raptors," Harding said.

"And she was very vague about the reason why she needed Wu to go."

Henry scratched his chin. "I've known her my whole carrier," he said. "I trust her. I'm sure everything's fine. She's probably just stressed out about this whole situation."

"If you say so," Baxter murmured.

"The fact is, if they're in danger, we have to help them," Wu said stoically. "So who's coming with me?"

No-one said anything. Wu looked around at the sea of faces, hopeful. When several seconds of silence elapsed, he turned with a furious look on his face. "They could be dying right now as we speak!" he shouted.

"Take it easy," Harding said. He looked at Jess across the room. She shook her head. Her eyes were desperate. Harding looked away, looked back to Wu. "If no-one else will go..."

"No Dad!" Jess shouted.

Harding forced himself to meet her gaze. "People are in danger," he said simply. "You would want them to come help you, wouldn't you?"

Jess scowled furiously at him as tears dripped down her cheeks.

Harding looked away and looked back at Wu. "I'm coming."

"In which case I'd better come along too," Baxter said with a sigh.

Harding nodded his thanks to the guard. "We're going to need a few people if we're going up against raptors," he said to the congregation. "More than three. Who else here has some experience with weaponry?"

There was a long pause and then someone shoved Tim forward. Tim looked down and sighed. "I do," the curly-haired man said. "I'm a guard." He shot a look at the woman behind him, "Thanks a lot. Now I'm going to die I'll bet."

The woman shook her head and said, "You'll be just fine."

"Four people," Harding said. "Four against four. It could work."

"I'd much rather have one additional person," Baxter said.

"I'll come."

Harding turned around to the unfamiliar voice and was surprised to see Rick staring back at him. Mina was at his side, giving him an incredulous stare. "What?" she said.

"Who are you?" Malcolm asked from on the table.

"Yeah, I don't recognize either of you," a worker said.

Rick took a deep, unsteady breath. "We're two of those people who snuck onto the boat and killed those crewmen."

Dead silence followed this revelation. Then Harding felt himself jostled forward as Tim, Carol, and some other workers rushed forward and started grabbing Rick and Mina and punching them.

"Stop!" Baxter shouted, but no-one did.

Harding threw himself into the fray, grabbing Tim's shoulder and lugging the big man off of Mina. Mina was feral, leashing out and striking at anyone who got too close. Bob Felder was pinning Rick and laying into him like a regular street thug. Morgan and Jim both grabbed the man and pulled him off of Rick, much to his displeasure.

Then Baxter ran forward with his rifle aimed. "Everyone stand back!" he shouted. He looked furious. "Stay away from them!" he said, shooting Bob an angry glare.

Harding turned and saw Mina helping Rick to his feet. The man had a bloody nose and his eye looked like it was bruised. "I'm sorry about that," Harding said to him.

Rick waved him off. "I don't blame you," he said to Bob. "I don't blame none of you. I'm a bad man. I am. I did something terrible yesterday. And I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't fix it," Bob growled.

"I know. Would it help if I helped rescue those workers?" he asked Harding.

"Rick, don't be an idiot," Mina told him.

"I just have to do this," he told his friend. "Don't you get it? If I don't, I won't be able to live with myself."

"A clean conscious?" Mina said incredulous. "That's your reason for risking your life out there?"

"I don't think it'll be such a risk if you come with me," he said softly.

Mina stared at him with anger and then gradually, appraisal. She sighed. "Well, if you go, I'm coming too," she said finally.

Rick smiled.

"Very good, very good," Baxter said. "That problem worked itself right out. Now, if we're going to save those people in time, we must leave now." And he moved toward the door.

"Say, now that those two are going," Tim said, pointing to Mina and Rick. "It should be fine if I stay here, right?"

Baxter turned on the man. "You're going to stay?"

"I mean, yeah, if you don't need me."

"Of course we need you," Baxter said. "We can use all the help we can get."

"Yeah, but I just thought that..." he looked down at his feet, shuffled them.

Baxter made a sour face. "Fine then, you coward: stay here," he spat.

Tim looked away.

"Come on," Harding said to them. He moved toward the door but Jessy called him back. He turned to his daughter with mingled guilt and love, and pulled her into a hug.

"Awe geez," someone said.

Harding ignored them and hugged his daughter. "I'll be alright," he assured her. "You'll see." He smiled.

She looked at him, wiping the tears with the back of her hand. "Yeah, alright," she said. "Whatever."

Harding patted her on the shoulder and then turned back to the door. Baxter, Wu, Mina and Rick looked back at him. Baxter gave them all rifles, even the criminals. "Okay," he said. And he opened the door.

"Be safe!" Jane called from the back right before the door slid closed.

They walked back to the iron gate and Wu opened it for them. Then they walked to the Jeep and got in, Baxter once again behind the wheel. Harding looked over his shoulder once more before getting into the Jeep next to Mina.

Baxter turned the key in the ignition and off they went.


	7. HARDING'S MOMENT

Before they started on their way Baxter drove them to a vast garage located underneath the visitor center. They drove through an enormous doorway and started down the way, passing Jeeps and trucks and various other vehicles. When they came to the far back, there was a truck there waiting for them: it was dark camo green and had a gun mounted on top of it.

"What's this?" Rick asked, impressed.

"We call her Rex," Baxter said sheepishly. "She's never been used before. I thought she would come in handy for us today."

Harding checked out the truck and liked what he saw. It was durable, strong, and obviously intended for sticky situations, what with that turret on the top. "It's good Baxter," he said. "I had no idea we had this thing."

"Muldoon only told the guards about it," Baxter explained. He tossed Harding the keys. "You drive. I'm manning the gun."

Harding nodded and got into the cab with Wu, Mina and Rick. Wu sat next to him, while the two mercenaries got in the back. Harding plugged the keys in and turned the nozzle, hearing the engine roar to life. "Now Rex," he said, "let's see what you're made of."

He sped out of the garage and they started their way down the suffocating jungle road amidst the tall trees and choking bushes. Harding kept a careful eye on the clock, assessing how much time they had, and also on the road ahead in case something dangerous popped out.

The minutes leeched by and Harding felt himself begin to sweat and burn with anxiety. He wished dearly that Charlotte had been mistaken or lying when she said that raptors had attacked her; Harding never wanted to see another raptor again as long as he lived. He even contemplated turning around just to avoid the unpleasantness of seeing their nightmarish form again. But he somehow forced himself to keep going. More people may die if we don't help, he told himself.

After about thirty minutes, the amount of time Charlotte said they had left before the raptors broke in, Harding spotted a glimpse of white through the dense trees and his heart leapt into his throat: that was the lab no doubt. He forced himself to keep driving in that direction. More of the lab came into view and the trees cleared out giving them a clear look at the area. There was an iron fence running around the facilities that would have been electrified if it wasn't for Nedry. Harding held his breath but there was no sign of raptors. Maybe they've gone? But when he got closer his suspicion rose, because there was no clear indication that there had ever been raptors here. The iron bars that Charlotte claimed the raptors were trying to bite through looked perfectly fine, untouched.

Harding looked at his comrades. "Something ain't right," he said.

They sat out there for about five minutes pondering. Then a sound came that froze Harding's blood and made him want to cry. The scream of a velociraptor, clear and unmistakable. No doubt about it, they were here.

"I guess we're going out there," Wu said. He grabbed his gun and opened the door. Harding was frozen to his chair for a few moments, then gathered up his courage and opened his door and got out. He heard doors opening and closing and a second later Mina and Rick joined them. Baxter jumped down from the gun post and unshouldered his rifle.

"Let's go," he said.

They moved to the iron gate and Harding pushed it up with one hefty shove. It swung wide and they passed through, tense and ready. They crept up to the front door and Wu opened it and they jumped inside.

The interior was dark because there was no power just like everywhere else in the park. Everything from the table to the intricate devices on them were in their proper places, and there was no sign of a panic or a struggle. Everything was peaceful.

"It's a trap," Baxter said. "Back out everyone."

Wu turned around and looked at him with confusion. "But the raptors..."

Baxter gestured to a megaphone that was in the ceiling above the door leading to another room. Wu looked at it, and it clicked for him and he ran back.

They ran back outside and started sprinting back to the open gate. Harding looked up and with mixed shock and dread identified the figure of a person on the gun on the truck. Suddenly the turret swung round with a metallic grin and aimed right at them. Harding immediately stopped, so did Wu and Mina and Rick, but Baxter did not, he kept running and dove behind a large boulder - as whoever was manning the gun opened fire, attempting to kill him.

The person stopped firing for a moment and shouted "Get out from behind there, or I'll shoot your friends!" Harding tensed up. That was definitely a female's voice.

"I'm giving you your fair warning!" the woman continued. "Come out from there, Baxter. Or your friends will die."

Baxter threw his arms up in the air and stood up and started walking back to them. There was a look of utter confusion, bewilderment, and rage on his face.

"Very good," the woman continued satisfactorily. "Now please put down your guns so we can begin the negotiations."

"Negotiations?" Wu stammered. "Charlotte, I don't understand what you're doing..."

"You don't need to understand, Henry," Charlotte said mockingly. "You just have to listen. Now put down your guns, or I will select one of you to die."

Harding threw down his gun with as much force as he could. The others did the same.

"Good, very good," Charlotte continued. "Now we're going to go back inside. Start walking!"

They began to trudge back to the lab.

"A bit faster if you don't mind," Charlotte said sweetly. Harding saw her raise a walkie-talkie to her mouth: "Okay, Lenny, you can come out now."

Harding turned his head to the right as a short, dark-haired man with green eyes stepped out from behind the building. He trained two guns on Harding and his allies, and started making his way toward them.

"Len," Wu said with distress. He turned to Charlotte. "What lies did you tell him to get him to agree to help you?"

"No lies," Charlotte said. "Only the truth."

Wu turned back to Len. "Len, it's me! Henry! You remember me, don't you?"

The man nodded. He had a distant look in his eyes; like he wasn't all there.

"Look what she's doing, Len!" Wu continued. "Why are you helping her?"

"Because I love her," Lenny replied.

Harding stared in disbelief before switching his gaze to Charlotte. "You took advantage of a simpleminded kid!"

"Be quiet!" Charlotte said sternly. "I know what I'm doing. And I love Lenny."

"It's a lie, Lenny," Harding heard Wu whisper to the man.

"Enough! Stop whispering to each other." Charlotte climbed down from the gun and made her way toward them, holding a pistol which she kept trained on them. "We're going to go inside now. Move it."

Baxter opened the door and they went inside, Rick and Mina first. Suddenly Mina bolted, and Rick followed her after a moment. They disappeared down a hallway.

"Hey, hey!" Charlotte screamed from behind. "If you don't get back here right now, I'll shoot Gerry!"

Harding had a dreadful feeling that she meant what she said. But he wasn't entirely convinced yet. Regardless he wasn't willing to take a gamble. He cupped his hands over his mouth. "Guys! She says she'll shoot me if you don't come back."

There was no response but silence. Harding began to sweat. What if they took this opportunity to pay him back for his mistreatment of them? He hadn't been the nicest person in the world to them.

Seconds ticked by and there was still no sign of either of them. "Well, where are they?" Charlotte demanded.

"They..." Harding swallowed. "They aren't coming back."

He felt a gun barrel poke his back. "You know, I can picture a nice little bullet-sized hole right here," Charlotte said. "Right here." She tapped him again. Harding gritted his teeth.

"You know, if they don't come back I'm going to have to kill you," Charlotte said.

Harding cupped his mouth again. "Mina! Rick! She means it! She's gonna shoot me!"

Silence. Dead silence.

"I guess you're out of time," Charlotte said.

Harding stared into nothingness. "I guess so..."

"Charlotte, don't!" Wu began to say.

Harding's world exploded with a well-placed gunshot, right in his back.

He was on the floor in his death throes. Dimly he heard Wu and Baxter shouting, and he felt someone touching his back. Wu or Baxter, trying to stop the flow of blood. He felt it- felt the blood- warm to the touch on his back. But the pain? The pain was not as bad as he expected. In fact, it hardly warranted concern. He felt peaceful, at ease, as the darkness dimmed and he drifted silently away as though nothing were wrong at all...as if he were just going to sleep...

Then a sad thought shattered his reprieve: I'll never see Jessica again.

And so his last moments were sad ones.

But sometimes that's just the way it is. Sometimes, you don't always get a happy ending.


	8. THE END

Wu stared down at Harding's motionless body and felt the energy get sucket out of him. Like there was a real physical thing sucking out every last scrap of decency in the world, and in him. That was how he linked the feeling.

He tore his gaze away from Harding and looked at Charlotte. "How...why..." He couldn't even get the words out.

And would you believe it, Charlotte laughed. Like it was all some clever joke on her part.

And that was it, the last straw for Henry Wu. In an instant his rage exploded inside and out, and he leapt at the woman he now resented. Her expression lit up with surprise as his fist connected with her head, toppling her. But he didn't stop there - oh no. He continued to hit her, desiring to express all of his hatred for her in these crude displays of physical violence. He was conscious of Baxter doing the same to Lenny.

He couldn't believe he wasn't dead. Suddenly, realty caved in on him and the blood lust was over. Frantic, Wu scrambled to his feet and looked down at the woman. Charlotte lifted her head, which was covered in cuts and bruises, and started to get up. But then Baxter pushed her back down with his foot, stepping on her. The guard picked up Lenny's gun and pointed it at Charlotte. She stared up at him, defiantly. Baxter cocked the gun, making her flinch. "Wait," she started to say.

Baxter's hand trembled but he did not shoot. Wu saw the veins in his neck and forehead popping. He saw his hand shaking, wanting to kill her but unable to squeeze the trigger. After several long moments, he threw the gun away. "Maybe," he said, "It would be better for you to die in a jail cell, all alone."

Wu heard a groan and turned to see Lenny getting to his feet. He had a black eye and other injuries on his face. The man looked from Wu to Baxter to Charlotte, dazed.

"Len," Wu said. The man turned to him. "Everything's going to be alright."

He heard another groan and looked down at Harding. He twitched.

He's alive!

Wu spun back to Lenny. "Find the first-aid-kit!" he told him.

Lenny turned around and dashed off.

Wu dropped to Gerry's side and clamped his hands down on the man's injury. He felt Harding's muscles rigid under his skin. Wu's hands were covered in blood after just a couple moments. "Baxter, I need you!" he cried.

"But who will watch her?" the man replied, referring to Charlotte.

"Gerry will die if you don't help me!" Wu shouted back.

He heard Baxter give an order to Charlotte to stand next to the wall and not move. Then he came over and began helping Wu. He put his hand over Wu's.

A minute or so later Lenny came back with a first-aid-kit in his arms. Suddenly he looked up, surprise lightening his expression. Then there was a loud bang and he jutted back, then fell to the ground.

Wu spun around just in time to see Charlotte train the weapon on him. But then Baxter kicked out with all his might, his boot connecting with her leg. She cried out and collapsed to the ground. Baxter grabbed her gun and pointed it at her.

This time he had the courage to finish it.

Wu shut his eyes. This was too much. So much death, so much! He opened his eyes and saw Baxter throw the gun away. He retrieved the first-aid-kit and brought it to them and started going through the contents. With shaking hands Wu examined the various bottles until he found the one he was looking for. He gave it to Harding and then grabbed the bandages and started wrapping them around the man's wound.

They worked for a long time. There was still no sign of Rick or Mina. Wu was quite convinced that they had found a boat and were halfway back to the mainland by now.

When they were done wrapping Gerry's wound and cleaned up some of blood surrounding his injury, they picked him up carefully and carried him over to the hallway. "Where are we going?" Baxter asked.

"To the infirmary," Wu replied.

The found the right place and Wu kicked open the door. Sunlight came in through a window in the back wall. Wu was surprised to find two more people in there, tied up and gagged. They put Harding on the medical table, then went to untie and ungag the people. One of them was a boy - Davis Hartwell. And the other was a girl - Rebecca Swan.

"Charlotte did this to you?" Baxter asked.

Rebecca nodded. "Where is she? We heard gunshots."

Baxter took a time to respond. "You don't have to worry about her any more," he said at last.

Turned out Rebecca knew quite a bit about medicine and she was able to determine what to do for Harding. She and Wu worked on him for about an hour until they had stabilized him.

"He just barely made it," Rebecca said. "He lost a lot of blood and he's going to need more pronto."

"For that we'll have to get off this island," Wu said.

He looked up at the sound of running footsteps and turned to see an exhausted Mina and Rick enter the room.

"You!" Baxter said accusingly. "Shouldn't you be on your merry way back to the mainland?"

Mina put up a hand to silence his protests. "We went to find guns to fight Charlotte with," she said. "That's why we ran off. But we bumped into some little dinosaurs - looked kind of like raptors, but smaller. Anyway, they chased us. Rick almost lost his leg, and I -" She rolled up her sleeve to reveal an ugly, festering wound. "Got bit by one of them."

"Hang on," Wu said, stepping forward. "These creatures - describe them to me."

"Small, blue," Rick said. "Huge white eyes..."

They heard Rebecca and Davis gasp. Wu put a hand over his mouth. Baxter looked at them in confusion. "What?" he asked.

"Those are Troodon," Wu said. "But they're all dead...we killed them..."

"No," Davis said. They all turned to the ginger-haired man. "Charlotte kept three for study."

Wu gasped. "She was out of her mind!"

"That's obvious now," Davis said slyly.

"What was she thinking?" Wu said rubbing his forehead.

"You tell me, doc," Baxter said. "You knew her better than any of us."

Wu scowled at him. "I disagree."

Baxter sighed and said, "Whatever you say. But a word of advice: you really need some discerning skills."

"What in the world do you mean?"

"I mean you need help discerning the psychopaths from the nice ladies."

"This is ridiculous," Wu said. "We have much bigger problems on our hands." He paused. "And we only dated for a month."

Mina snapped her fingers. "Hello? Can we get back to this? Like, will Gerry be alright?"

"Yes. No thanks to you," Baxter said. "Rebecca and Wu have got him stabilized, for now. But he needs blood."

"There's an even bigger problem," Wu said. "Mina, Rick. Where were you attacked by these creatures?"

"In the basement," Mina said.

"Then for crying out loud, shut that door!" Wu shouted.

Rick kicked it closed. "We locked them down there though," he protested.

"Those things are even better at getting out of a tight spot than raptors," Wu said. "Believe me. They are ruthless, unstoppable killing machines. And that bite on your arm, Mina? It's infected and probably going to kill you if we don't treat it."

Mina's eyes went wide. "Well then treat it! Why are we just standing around here?"

Wu brought her over to the back and Rebecca got to work on her. "We need to block ourselves in here as best we can," he said. "Board up the window and the vents. Those things can even climb through vents."

They all got to work making the place as safe as possible; meanwhile, the evening faded to night. Wu looked out the window and saw a jet black jungle out there.

"I sure hope Hammond and Jane and all the others are safe," he murmured. "I hope they got the power on and are heading out of here."

"Why haven't they come looking for us?" Davis asked.

"I don't know," Wu replied.

Baxter looked at his watch. "It's ten fifteen," he said.

"Troodons are nocturnal," Wu said. "They'll be on the prowl. They have a terrific sense of smell and sight. They'll be coming for us, mark my words."

At that moment they picked up a distant yet clear clatter. It was like someone tapping and scrapping a knife across a metal sheet. Wu's eyes widened. "They're in the vents...they've picked up our scents."

Baxter said, "Everyone grab a gun!" and moved to the middle of the room. They pushed Harding's bed over to the middle and surrounded it. Wu, Baxter, Mina, Rick, Rebecca, and Davis.

"They'll try to push through the vents," Davis said.

"They're going to have a heck of a time with that," Baxter said. "I boarded them up nice and good."

Wu was so preoccupied with the looming danger of the Troodons that he failed to notice that gentle thrumming in the distance until Rick pointed it out.

"That's a helicopter!" Baxter declared. "They're coming!"

Then, from within the vents, they heard a grating screech. Suddenly there came a rattling, shoving sound. They heard angry screeches from within the vents.

"It's so dark," Rebecca murmured. "Can't see a thing..."

"Don't worry, they can't get through," Baxter said.

The rustling continued for several moments and then they heard the scrapping and tapping sounds again, slowly fading away.

"They've gone," Wu said. "They'll be trying another entrance."

During this time the sound of the helicopter had gotten louder and louder, so much so that it drowned out nearly every other noise. Wu waited with eager expectation, but hesitance, hardly daring to hope that the nightmare was over.

Then they heard the sound of many running footsteps approaching down the hall. And voices crying out for them. Wu moved to the front entrance and began pushing aside the stuff they had piled up to keep the Troodons out. "We're here! We're here!" he cried out. He removed the last object and then swung open the door.

A pair of beady white eyes stared back at him, and a long grating hiss emanated from the darkness. Wu screamed and turned around to run when a heavy weight landed on his back. He felt the creature's jaws on his neck...

Then there was a loud explosion right in Wu's ears and the weight vanished. Someone pulled him to his feet. He looked through fuzzy eyes. Who was it? Baxter? No, it was a man in military fatigues. He hoisted Wu onto his feet and then began to run with him out of the room. Wu heard gunshots behind him, and unholy screeches that would later give him nightmares. Those Troodons were not natural things.

For that matter nothing on his begotten island was.

Wu thought it was only natural to have philosophical thoughts in times like this, when escape was right on the horizon and your spirits were soaring. You felt elated and free like you'd just accomplished something impossible; that was exactly what Henry Wu felt as he ran with several military people to the awaiting helicopter, climbing in and feeling someone buckle him in. He put his head back and sighed - free! - before opening his eyes again and looking out of the helicopter expectantly for his friends.

He saw them coming, first Mina, then Baxter, then Rebecca, then Rick, then Davis, and finally several military carrying Harding on a gurney. In the windows of the lab Wu saw explosions of gunfire. And then several more military ran out of the lab and sprinted across the grass toward them. As those people climbed in, Wu heard one of them shout, "Go! Something huge is coming!"

It was then that he noticed for the very first time the ground shaking under him. Terror seized him and he began to hyperventilate. He screamed, "The Rex is coming, it's coming! We have to go, go!"

He needn't have worried however, as in the next ten seconds the chopper was lifting up off the ground with all of its passengers inside. Wu stared through the open door and saw the lab growing smaller and smaller beneath them. They cleared the tops of the topmost trees and spun round and started heading off into darkness.

Wu closed his eyes and set his head against the seat.


	9. Aftermath

The survivors were taken first to Costa Rica where those who needed it received medical attention. Harding's condition was worse of all; for a time, the doctors weren't sure if he would survive. But, as one doctor put it, "he was determined to live." He recovered after eight weeks in hospital, and went home with his daughter Jessica.

As for the others, Baxter, Wu, they returned to a life of normalcy in the months following the Jurassic Park incident. Henry Wu faced some legal allegations for his involvement on the island. But it was nothing compared to what the company itself and John Hammond got hit with. At least thirty people had died on Isla Nublar.


End file.
